Snooze

Okay - if we're going to turn this into a Sky appreciation thread I'd better add mine too: Having recently renewed with Sky (who were the cheapest by far for me - even beating the Aristo Owners Club insurers Adrian Flux by a good 30%), I just spoke to Ollie to sort out an issue with my agreed valuation. Very helpful and communicative.

I think this a slightly funny one. For a car to be put onto the road in the UK, the law requires that the speedometer must read in MPH. See here in section 2.6. HOWEVER, I do not believe that the speedometer is actually checked as part of an MOT test, so it will not fail......

Never written off a car, but my first car was an Escort which I pranged in three separate parking incidents: - Once, I parked it into a vertical gutter pipe and needed a new bumper - I also parked it into brick pillar in a car park and needed a new wing - Then once I parked it at 30mph into the back of a Rover on the A281 and needed major repairs (barely a scratch on the Rover, mind! They didn't even bother claiming!) I spun my 16V Clio into a kerb once whilst trying to understand what lift-off oversteer meant. Now I know. "Lift-off oversteer" means "make sure you've saved enough money for a new set of wheels". Must have matured a bit after that, 'cos 3 years in my 328, 2 years in the Supra and now a year in the Aristo and not a single crash (touch wood - and not the 40mph sideways into a tree kind of touch, please).

The only cheap holiday we've been on was one off Teletext in Crete a few years back at £150 each for a week. It was allocation on arrival, so you're really at the mercy of the holiday company for what the accomodation is like. We got lucky and got a small block of appartments about 200 yards from a decent beach. It was in a really OTT tourist trap area, though - so we stayed away from the nightlife, which was all theme pubs and stuff - again, luckily, the accomodation was well off the main strip, and there was only one group of youngsters there, who were well behaved anyway, so it was pretty quiet too - a really good holiday all in. That said, I think we got REALLY lucky with that one, and although I'd be willing to try it again if it was just for a £150 punt, I don't think I'd gamble like that with a precious weeks' holiday again - if the next one was rubbish, I wouldn't really begrudge the cash, but I'd be gutted about "wasting" a week of leave. If we were looking to get a cheap Med holiday again, I'd instead try to find a group of 4-6 friends (probably other couples with young kids like us) and group-rent an out-of-town villa with a couple of cars instead. You can get the individual price for a self-catering villa in Majorca or something pretty damn low too, with a much lower risk of loud/rubbish accomodation.

Well, they're ALL comfortably out of my price range, anyhow!

A 964 Turbo will cost $$$$$. The 996 is a bit too "safe" for my liking, and marked the end of the air-cooled systems. Ideally, I'd like a 993GT2 or a 964 Turbo but I don't think they're worth the money they command. So, my #1 choice would be a 993. The NA, not the Turbo (because the turbo was 4WD, I think).

Any idea when was the 911 originally out? I was guessing at 1964?

That's a 964, I think.

Porsche version numbers are all over the place a bit, but I think the 911 series is maybe based on years? The original 911 was introduced in the mid-60's - maybe 1964 ? The 993 was introduced in 1993, I think and (I guess) the 996 around '96?

That's the feller! The 964 turbo is/was a scary car. It's the 964 shape that I always picture when someone says "911". The 993 (it's successor) was a significant step forward in handling (and is still the best 911 IMO!).

Shazam. £200 up That'll just about pay for the V-Power I just burned going to Plymouth and back today! 3 more Ferrari toys added to the collection, tho!

Jazz - delete post #4

....and my single annual gambling allowance. A little each way wager on: Comply or Die and Point Barrow. Anyone else having a flutter?

If local elections are nothing to do with national politics, then councillors should surely not be aligned with any particular political party?

I'm not really qualified to vote as I'm not party to all the facts, I've no idea what the "right" thing to do is. They try and sell me to vote for them in order to "keep the local hospital" or "improve local schools" or somesuch, but what I'm actually voting for is the amount of power that person's party's politics carry at a national level, which I am not qualified to understand: is it a good for the UK economy if we join the EU? How the hell should I know? If even the politicians and economists (who are "supposed" to be the experts) disagree, how on earth can I be expected to know what's best?!?!?! On top of which, after my vote has caused all this, the individual I've voted for ISN'T EVEN BOUND to deliver the (relatively minor) thing that I was sold for my vote in the first place (improving local amenities, etc.).

I don't think it's so much in terms of parts' cost, it's more in terms of amount of labour. Probably less of an issue if its a hobby rather than a business, I guess....

My brother has a couple of these which get rented out for crewed track days. Really fun little cars for the money, but yeah - the running costs can be ferocious - it's taken him about 3 years to get the business back to break-even.

When I bought 60L, I just asked the guy if I could take two - he didn't really say anything, just grunted, so I took that as an affirmative.....

It's one for every 30L, so a full tank should get you two. I already had all 6 and have just got another one, so I'll probably complete a second set before they stop doing them (mid-April, I think).

Toast. Cheese. Worcester sauce. Tobasco sauce.

No to sugar. Yes to syrup!

Hehe - I find the jumpstyle stuff quite funny. It's like happy hardcore meets line dancing. Didn't someone post a video of some kids dancing jumpstyle around a moped last year or something? Well - looks like another comedy euro fad makes it to the UK........

I've just read an article in the Sunday Mail that says she was actually going back onto the tracks to retrieve her boot which was lost when the first guy pulled her off the tracks.

Yep - I meant it. If they really want you to not speed, they should make it an instant ban. The problem with speeding as an offense is that what is and isn't dangerous is a grey area: 30mph for a granny in a clapped-out metro on a tight bend in the snow is totally different to 30mph for a skilled driver in a performance car on a straight road in good conditions. Speeding is just used because it's easy and cheap (ie. automated) to enforce (with cameras).

I think you have to take the implication is that speeding penalties should be a lot harsher too..... which would be no bad thing. A punishment of 3 points and £60 for an offence is pretty much stating that they're not really that bothered if you break the rules or not.....